Review: Lucifer's Star by C.T. Phipps & Michael Suttkus

Lucifer's Star by C.T. Phipps & Michael Suttkus

Mystique Press, 2017

Ebook. 300 pages

About Lucifer's Star:

"Cassius Mass was the greatest star pilot of the Crius Archduchy. He fought fiercely for his cause, only to watch his nation fall to the Interstellar Commonwealth. It was only after that he realized the side he'd been fighting for was the wrong one. Now a semi-functional navigator on an interstellar freight hauler, he tries to hide who he was and escape his past. Unfortunately, some things refuse to stay buried and he ends up conscripted by the very people who destroyed his homeland. 

LUCIFER'S STAR is the first novel of the Lucifer's Star series, a dark science fiction space opera set in a world of aliens, war, politics, and slavery."

Over the past couple of years I've been slowly starting to get more into sci-fi, and space opera is one of the subgenres I've been trying to dip into more and more. I'll be honest here and say something a bit controversial--I am not much of a Star Wars fan at all, so I'm always somewhat skeptical of whether similar sci-fi settings will be a hit or miss, but I have to say that I had such an enjoyable time reading this book and am glad I had the opportunity to read it.

Lucifer's Star is a great example of a well-written, highly entertaining space opera. The world-building was executed extremely well, with an engaging futuristic world in which humans have basically destroyed earth and have now colonized a large portion of the world in space. I really appreciated how much detail went into the world-building and also the politics and intricacies of the world that added layers of authenticity to the world. It did feel a little hard to keep up with everything at times because it all seemed to come at me pretty quickly, but it also made me appreciate how much work the authors put into it. I also found the mentions of alien life interesting, as they weren't a huge part of this story, but they were still mentioned in a way that made it apparent that they were a part of the world. The alien life in this book are known to have greater technology and advancements, but there is a still a large air of mystery surrounding them that I think only added to the world-building.

The story is told from the perspective of Cassius Mass, a man who was once a legendary pilot from the Archduchy of Crius, a smaller nation that fought--and lost--in a big battle against the Commonwealth. Cassius is the sort of character that is ready to be done with his career and fade away into a quiet retirement, but as is the case in most stories, he is inevitably drawn back into new threats and conflicts. I found myself intrigued by Cassius' character and I found him to be someone that I genuinely cared about and was interested in following throughout the entirety of the book. In addition to Cassius, there are many other intriguing characters that we meet throughout the story. Something that stood out to me was how many incredible female characters there were, all of which felt extremely well-written and were represented well, which is so important and can sometimes be difficult to find in sci-fi. They didn't feel cliche'd or pigeon-holed into one type, but instead varied and had distinct personalities that brought everything to life..

Lastly, I want to mention that I felt this book touched on some really interesting topics and themes. I particularly liked that nothing felt simply black and white or good and bad, there was so much grey area within this world and the story that reflected reality in such a good way. As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of politics in play that can be a bit much, but there is also action and other content interspersed to keep things engaging.

Overall, I've given Lucifer's Star four stars! I though this was a well-written space opera full of intrigue and I would recommend to anyone interested in the genre.

Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

*I received a copy of Lucifer's Star courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating of the novel.*

Review: I Was a Teenage Weredeer by C.T. Phipps & Michael Suttkus

I Was a Teenage Weredeer by C.T. Phipps & Michael Suttkus

Crossroad Press, 2017

Paperback. 256 pages.

About the book:

"Jane Doe is a weredeer, the least-threatening shapechanger species in the world. Blessed with the ability to turn furry at will and psychically read objects, Jane has done her best to live a normal life working as a waitress at the Deerlightful Diner. She has big dreams of escaping life in the supernatural-filled town of Bright Falls, Michigan, and her eighteenth birthday promises the beginning of her teenage dreams coming true. 

Unfortunately, her birthday is ruined by the sudden murder of her best friend's sister in an apparent occult killing. Oh, and her brother is the primary suspect. Allying with an eccentric FBI agent, the local crime lord, and a snarky werecrow, Jane has her work cut out for her in turning her big day around. 

Thankfully, she's game."

Urban and supernatural fantasy are not genres I read on a regular basis, but I am so glad that I decided to take a chance and read I Was a Teenage Weredeer because it was such a fun and deeply interesting story.

What stood out to me the most and what I personally enjoyed the most was that this book does not pretend to be anything other than what it is, which is a fun, mostly light-hearted supernatural mystery with some darker twists and turns throughout. It's not necessarily the best book I've ever read, but it is without a doubt one of the books I've laughed throughout the most, and that has to mean something.  I am also a fan of some good puns, so all the deer-related puns were top notch for me.

The characters are all consistently complex and are so entertaining to read. Jane is a fantastic narrator with a dry sense of humor and witty commentary that I loved. There were times when I felt like there was a bit of information overload and I struggled to make sure I took note of everything, but Jane's narrative voice really made everything interesting to follow along with. I appreciated that Jane was willing to get involved in solving this murder for her friend and brother's sake despite having no experience in solving murders and despite a few rather terrifying obstacles along the way (I mean, getting stuck in hell isn't exactly fun, now is it?)

Another prominent character is Jane's friend Emma, a werewolf. Emma provided a nice contrast to Jane at many points in this novel, and I really liked how many different elements she brought to the story in addition to Jane's own opinions and experiences. It really helped to flesh out the story, and the other characters in this book did much of the same, though on smaller scales since they were less prominent characters.

One of my favorite aspects of this book was simply learning about the world. It's not a fully alternative world, as everything takes place on Earth--specifically in the United States--but it is a world where supernatural beings (werewolves, weredeer, were-you-name-it, vampires, etc.) are all now existing and out in the open. I really appreciated how much detail the authors put into that element and how they made it feel like a real, believable world, especially with how issues of racism and stereotypes of various beings were shown and used. I found the latter aspect to be a clever way to sort of showcase these types of attitudes and how bad they are in our own world and this fictional world, especially with the laws in some states that allow 'shifters' (were-animals) to be shot on sight.

Overall, I've given I Was a Teenage Weredeer four stars! If you're looking for a fun, entertaining read with some interesting story elements, then definitely give this one a shot. If you don't like puns, well, then you might want to hoof it somewhere else.

Buy the book: Amazon

*I received a copy of I Was a Teenage Weredeer courtesy of C.T. Phipps in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating of the novel.*

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